Abstract

Video games are entertainment, but like other such media (say Oscar-winning movies or award-winning books), they can also point out
challenges facing people. In this science project, you will design and create a fishing video game that teaches the player about which
fish are plentiful enough to catch and which fish are not because their population is declining. Maybe your game can help solve the problem
of over-fishing and help sustain healthy fish populations. All while having fun of course!

Objective

To design and create a fishing video game in which the player scores points for catching sustainable, or "Best Choice," fish but scores
nothing for catching "Avoid" fish.

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Introduction

Do you fish? Many people see fishing as a fun hobby, whether they do it off the side of a dock, from the deck of a sport-fishing boat, or even from
the comfort of their couch with a fishing video game. But for others, fishing is not just a hobby – it is a job and a way to put food on tables across
the world. The problem is some fish populations are declining quickly worldwide, and reports suggest that these changes are affecting the jobs of fishermen,
the health of the oceans, and even the hobby of a weekend fisher. Part of the solution may lie in changing, at least temporarily, what fish humans eat in
order to give the endangered fish populations time to recover. Marine research and education organizations like aquariums are strong advocates of this
approach. But the question is: How do you get the message out about which fish are environmentally responsible to eat and which are not? The answer may
lie in another form of entertainment – video games!

In this video and computer game project, you will educate your players about the fragility of ocean life by making a computer fishing game. You will use
an easy-to-learn programming software called GameMaker to create your video game. The great thing about GameMaker is that you can download the lite version
from the Internet and it's free. The Procedure will point you to several tutorials and help documents available online that will introduce you to
GameMaker and assist you in making a successful game even if you have never programmed before. You can join the effort to save the oceans by teaching
your friends and family about the kinds of fish that are plentiful enough to eat and others that are declining and would be better left alone.

Before you dive into creating your video game, however, you might want to know a little more about what is happening to the fish under the ocean surface.
Scientists estimate that human activity has led to the removal of 90% of the world's predatory fish, including sharks, swordfish, and codfish. According
to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch, factors that affect ocean life, specifically fish species, are overfishing,illegal fishing,habitat damage,bycatch, and lack of management. Let us look at overfishing, illegal fishing, and bycatch.

Overfishing is the act of catching fish faster than they can replace themselves. Fish like orange roughy (see Figure 1, which shows a trawler net of the fish)
and rockfish don't reach breeding age for several decades and are vulnerable to overfishing. Rockfish, a species that inhabits waters along the West
Coast of the United States and can live to be 100 years old, has been severely depleted due to overfishing. In 1992, the codfish population in Canada
collapsed due to overfishing. Approximately 40,000 people lost their jobs, and the codfish population has not recovered.

Some desperate pirate fishermen are willing to break the law to make an income. Unfortunately, this affects worldwide fish populations. Pirate
fishermen take undersized fish illegally, fish in closed areas, take more fish than allocated to them, or use illegal gear. Illegal fishing puts unsustainable
pressure on fish stocks and habitats because the fish needed to build the next generation are lost.

Bycatch occurs when fishermen use less selective equipment, like bottom trawls and longlines, to catch fish, and instead of just catching the fish
they want, also catch fish that they don't want. The fishermen often throw the bycatch back into the water either dead or dying. Longlines are hooked and baited
lines that can reach lengths of 50 miles. These devices catch anything that wanders into its path. Bottom trawls drag along the bottom of the ocean floor catching
anything in its wake. Bycatch isn't just unwanted fish; it can also include sea turtles, whales, dolphins, sharks, and even seabirds.

These practices have left some fish populations severly reduced. In order to give them the chance to breed and recover, marine biologists are recommending they
be fished minimally or not at all. For that to work, consumers need to get the message so they can make informed choices when buying groceries or dining out.
Your video game can help spread the message in a fun and memorable way.

Terms and Concepts

Predatory

Overfishing

Illegal fishing

Habitat damage

Bycatch

Breeding age

Bottom trawl

Longline

Flowchart

Questions

You have learned a little about catching fish from the oceans, but what about the alternative, aquaculture? What are some pros and cons of aquaculture?

Go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch website
(see bibliography for citation) and find the Seafood Watch pamphlet for your part of the country. What fish are acceptable for you to eat? Are the kinds of
fish that are okay for you to eat okay for people in other parts of the country to eat?

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Materials and Equipment

Computer with Internet connection

GameMaker Lite; you can download either the PC or Mac version free of charge from YoYo Games.
Please note that at the time that this project was written, GameMaker worked better on PCs in comparison with Macs.

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Experimental Procedure

Note: This engineering project is best described by the engineering design
process, as opposed to the scientific method. You might want to ask
your teacher whether it's acceptable to follow the engineering design process for
your project before you begin. You can learn more about the engineering design process
in the Science Buddies
Engineering Design Process Guide.

Planning Your Fishing Game

In this video and computer games science project, you will create a fishing game that not only entertains the player but also educates him or her about
the fragility of life in our oceans and the right kinds of fish to eat. The goal for the player is to catch as many "good" fish as possible and not catch
the "to avoid" fish as each type swims by the player's fishing rod or hook. The player will get points for every good fish he or she catches during an allotted
amount of time.

Before you start programming your game, work through the first two Beginner (Level 1) tutorials listed in the
GameMaker User Guide. These tutorials, each only about 30 minutes long, will
walk you through the steps of making a video game with GameMaker. Even if you've never programmed before, you will be ready to tackle this fishing game project
after working through the tutorials.

Once you have completed the two tutorials and practiced with GameMaker, and you feel comfortable with the programming environment, it is time to start the
project. As noted at the beginning of this procedure, this project follows the
Engineering Design Process.

Remember, if you run into trouble making your game, or feel as if you want more practice before tackling this project, the
GameMaker User Guide also contains links to many other beginner tutorials as
well as GameMaker help documents, a wiki, and a forum you can turn to with specific questions.

Define the problem. In this case, you will create a fun and educational fishing game. Refer to the Science Buddies
Define the Problem page to help you set
the boundaries for the project.

Do background research. The purpose of this game is to teach the player about the right kinds of fish to consume. Start at the
Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch website to determine the
"Best Choices," "Good Alternatives," and "To Avoid" fish for your region. You should also study YoYo Games' tutorial
What is a Good Game? to start thinking about the goals of building a successful video game.

Develop the project requirements. The project requirements are the characteristics that your video game must have to be a successful and
educational video game. Refer to the Science Buddies
Design Requirements section to get tips on how
to formulate your game's design requirements. Here are some ideas to consider when formulating the requirements.

What kind of fish sprites (i.e. images or animations) do you want to use? How many of each kind ("Best Choices," "Good Alternatives," and "To Avoid")?
What kind of fishing rod/hook sprite will you use?

What other sprites do you need-bubbles or kelp-that will help set the scene?

How long should the game last? What event will you use to control time? Where will it occur?

How fast should the background and fish move?

How many points will each category of fish earn the player? Will the player get points subtracted for fish they shouldn't catch?

What will happen when your fishing rod hooks (or collides) with a fish? How will the fish move out of the water?

Will there be sound in the game? If yes, will the sound be used during the entire game or only when a fish is caught?

Creating Your Fishing Game

Create and analyze solutions. Keeping your project requirements in mind, think about different ways that you could build your game. Take a look
at this Science Buddies document on
Creating Alternative Solutions to guide your efforts.
Once you have developed a few solutions, analyze the solutions by making rough sketches and flowcharts for each one. Refer to Science Buddies
Best Solution document to help you pick a working solution.

Build and test a sample video game. Once you have created a set of requirements and a possible solution, it is time to open GameMaker and
start working on building a sample video game. Build a sprite and an object and have it swim around in your ocean. Remember to review your requirements so
that you keep yourself focused on the task. Review this Science Buddies
Prototyping document.

Program your video game. Keep testing the game as you work. When you have fulfilled a requirement or task, run the game and test it out.

Break the game programming up into smaller tasks so that the project is not overwhelming.

Test the game along the way so that you can fix small issues as they come up. This will prevent your having a long set of events at the end that don't work.

Once you have finished your game, check to see that all of the project requirements are fulfilled.

Test and redesign. Review the Science Buddies
Test and Redesign document to help organize your work.
Test your game out on your family and friends. Take notes on what your players enjoyed and didn't enjoy about the game. Use their feedback to improve your game.

The Final Product: Presenting Your Game

When presenting your game at your science fair, try to bring in a computer. If you are not able to do so, take screenshots of your work,
print them out, and mount them to a poster board.

If you need help taking screenshots ask a teacher or someone else familiar with the computer for help.

You should include the following items in your presentation:

A list of the project requirements that guided your creation of the video game.

The rough sketches or flowchart that describes how the game works.

An explanation of what you learned from your research and from creating the video game.

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Variations

Make additional rooms in your game based on the region where the player is based. The player can then choose which room they enter. If your player
is from the Southeast region of the United States, use the regional Monterey Bay Aquarium
Seafood Watch Pocket Guide from that part of the United States.

Experiment with changing the speed of the fish as the game progresses.

Indicate to the player when they have caught a good fish or a bad fish. This will help educate the player about life in the oceans.

Ask an Expert

The Ask an Expert Forum is intended to be a place where students can go to find answers to science questions that they have been unable to find using other resources. If you have specific questions about your science fair project or science fair, our team of volunteer scientists can help. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions, offer guidance, and help you troubleshoot.

Related Links

If you like this project, you might enjoy exploring these related careers:

Computer Programmer

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Multimedia Artist or Animator

If you've ever watched a cartoon, played a video game, or seen an animated movie, you've seen the work of multimedia artists and animators. People in these careers use computers to create the series of pictures that form the animated images or special effects seen in movies, television programs, and computer games.
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Marine Biologist

Do you enjoy going to the ocean? Do you like examining all of the marine creatures in tide pools? Do you read up on the different kinds of ocean mammals and fish for fun? If this is the case, then you may be the right fit for a career as a marine biologist. Marine biology is the study of ocean aquatic organisms, their behaviors, and their interactions with the environment. Because this field of study is an intersection of zoology, biology, and technology, marine biologists can apply their knowledge in many different ways.
Read more

Computer Software Engineer

Are you interested in developing cool video game software for computers? Would you like to learn how to make software run faster and more reliably on different kinds of computers and operating systems? Do you like to apply your computer science skills to solve problems? If so, then you might be interested in the career of a computer software engineer.
Read more

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